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Barnum
Production Notes Length: Two Reel Producer: Robert F. McGowan Director: Robert F. McGowan Photography: Art Lloyd Editor: Richard Currier Titles: H. M. Walker Writer: Released: April 7, 1928 Studio: M-G-M Main Cast * Allen Hoskins * Harry Spear (actor) * Jackie Condon (actor) * Jay Smith * Jean Darling (actress) * Johnny Aber - unconfirmed * Joseph Cobb * Mildred Kornman - unconfrmed * Paul Toien * Robert Hutchins Supporting Cast * Charles A. Millsfield - The Frenchman * Charles King - The Groom * Clara Guiol - Hotel Guest * Dorothy Coburn - First Lady * Edna Marian - Maid * Eric Mayne - The Bearded Man * Eugene Pallette - Hotel Detective * George B. French - Desk Clerk * Ham Kinsey - Bell Boy * Lillianne Leighton - Hotel Guest * May Wallace - Dowager * Oliver Hardy - Inebriate/Hotel Detective * Patsy O'Byrne - Second Lady * Retta Palmer - Lobby Extra (unconfirmed) * Robert Dean - "Little Egypt" * William Gillespie - Hotel Manager * unknown - "Little Casino" * Symona Boniface - Lobby Extra (unconfirmed) The Short Plot: Farina has taken a job at the Ritz-Biltmore Hotel, and the gang decides to put on a sizable circus act in a ballroom with a menagerie of animals, such as a hen on stilts passed off as a stork and a cat with a hot water bottle to its tail as a platypus. The house detective cuts their show short which causes a hotel-wide chase of the animals overrunning the place. An ostrich startles a drunk and then finishes off his drink. Disguised dogs, wild pigs and other creatures follow around a newlywed couple trying to get a minute to themselves. Meanwhile, young heiress Jean Darling amuses herself with sticking pins in people when they're not looking. Farina resists spending time with her because he feels he's still full of holes. The detective eventually catches up with the kids, but now, the ostrich is drunk, hiccuping and stumbling its way through a drunken stupor. Quotes: * "When you grow up, you can be my chauffeur." - Jean to Farina ** "Yo' keep on stickin' me with pins, an' Ah won't never grow up!" - Farina to Jean * "-All set - We're bringin' the elephant an' the hippopotamusses up on the freight elevator-" Jay Smith Notes/Trivia: * Maltin and Bann called this short reminiscent of the The Big Show and possibly having inspired the society pet show scenes in Pups Is Pups. * The title of the short seems based on the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. * The Ritz-Biltmore Hotel is an homage to the Biltmore and Ritz Hotels. * Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy was confirmed in a studio photograph wearing a badge holding Farina. Ironically, the same set was used in Laurel and Hardy's short Double Whoopee (1928), which would also star William Gillespie. * Symona Boniface was confirmed in several scene coverage photographs of the production; she probably played an uncredited lobby extra. * Ham Kinsey also worked as a stunt double of Stan Laurel. * Jean Darling recalls that Mary Ann Jackson was caught sticking pins in people on the set. Hal Roach thought it was so funny that he incorporated it into the script for Jean. However, as Mary Ann had not yet joined the series by this point, the incident most likely took place later on. Sequence * Previous Short: Edison, Marconi & Co. * Next Short: Fair And Muddy ---- Category:Silent Film Category:1928 Category:Show-Related Shorts Category:Pet-Related Shorts Category:Adult-Involved Shorts